It will alternate between conventional tram and replacement of a branch of the RER. The line 12 tram-train between Massy-Palaiseau and Evry-Courcouronnes, in Essonne, is expected by the end of the year. The tests were formally launched on Wednesday, hoping that the manufacturer Alstom will have delivered all the trains on time. “This line changes everything! “, underlined the mayor (LR) of Evry-Courcouronnes Stéphane Beaudet, also vice-president in charge of transport for the Ile-de-France region.
This tram-train must run successively like a conventional tram between Evry-Courcouronnes and Epinay-sur-Orge then on a railway line to Massy-Palaiseau, where it will replace a branch of the RER C. “It’s a small revolution in the Essone! “because the new line will connect the two main poles of the department, Evry-Courcouronnes and Massy-Palaiseau, added the president of the region and Ile-de-France Mobilités, Valérie Pécresse. “Finally, suburb-to-suburb transport!” »
Will Alstom be on time?
“Around us, real estate has taken 13.5% since the laying of the rails”, described the mayor LR during a ceremony at the future terminus, not far from the RER station of Evry-Courcouronnes Center. The project costs 525 million euros, to which are added 150 million for the rolling stock, 25 trains of the Dualis family – cousins of those which already circulate on the lines T4, T11 and T13 – purchased from Alstom. In this respect, Sylvie Charles, the director of Transilien SNCF – the branch of SNCF Voyageurs in charge of trains in the Parisian suburbs – was a little worried about possible delays because “there are always some difficulties in bringing in parts from the ‘distant stranger’, without giving details.
“We have the biggest manufacturer who makes the most beautiful trains, but if only they could be on time! exclaimed Valérie Pécresse. “It’s not just the SNCF that has to be on time, there’s also Alstom! The manufacturer is “fully mobilized (…) to meet the planned commissioning schedule”, according to a spokesperson.
Between Massy-Palaiseau and Versailles, we stay by RER
The commissioning will take place on the date scheduled for December 10, but with a degraded service if there are not enough trains available, said Sylvie Charles. As for the second phase of T12 for a time envisaged between Massy-Palaiseau and Versailles, it seems to be postponed indefinitely. The end of the RER C which currently circulates there will be replaced by a new train line called V, according to Valérie Pécresse.
The new T12 line is to be operated by Transkeo, a joint venture between Keolis (a public transport subsidiary of SNCF) and SNCF Voyageurs. The line should be put out to tender soon, with a new operator expected at the end of 2024.